


Independent Study

by basil_leaf



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Bisexual Sam Winchester, Implied Sexual Content, Law Student Sam Winchester, Lawyer Gabriel (Supernatural), M/M, brief mentions of homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 13:00:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20471441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/basil_leaf/pseuds/basil_leaf
Summary: After 15 years of working at Winchester’s Garage (the family business), Sam decides to go back to school to finally get his pre-law degree.  The night before classes start, he meets a handsome man in a bar.





	Independent Study

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by the August prompts from the Gabriel Monthly Challenge on tumblr (gabriel-monthly-challenge.tumblr.com). Specifically, it’s got the AU prompt, high school or college AU, and the aesthetic prompt, which is located in the body of the fic since I can’t put photos in the notes.

————

Sam threw back his first glass of whiskey, immediately signaling for a second. It wasn’t that he was here to get drunk, he just wanted to take the edge off of his serves. Tomorrow was his first day of school, after all.

When his dad had gone missing, Sam had left Stanford to help Dean look for him. When the police had eventually found John, dead in some kind of a hunting accident, Sam had decided to stay home and help Dean run the family business. He’d been one semester away from finishing his pre-law degree. Sam had spent 15 years answering phones, scheduling appointments, and keeping the books for Winchester’s Garage while Dean had lost himself under the hood of countless cars. It had been nice working with Dean and Sam would have been content to continue doing it but the desire to be a lawyer had never really gone away, something he’d accidentally told Dean after a few too many beers one night.

And so, at Dean’s insistence, here he was. He had moved into a small but nice apartment in the city, thankfully far enough from where most of the undergrads lived when they moved off campus but still close enough to school for the nights he closed down the library. Sam still wasn’t convinced this was a great idea, though. Sure, the school had given him advanced standing due to his previous study in the field and for his life experience but he would still have about 20 years on most of his classmates.

“Do you always try to intimidate your whiskey before you drink it?”

The voice broke through Sam’s thoughts and he immediately felt his jaw unclench and his brow relax. Realizing how he must have looked, he had to chuckle at the man’s question.

“No,” Sam replied, “I just got lost in my thoughts. I’m Sam.” He extended his hand toward the handsome stranger.

The man took it and gave a strong handshake. “Gabe. I haven’t seen you around before, you new in town?”

Sam leaned back a bit, arching a brow at Gabe. “You know everyone who walks in this place?” He asked.

“I’m a bit of a regular,” Gabe responded with a laugh, “and, tall and handsome as you are, you’re kind of hard to miss.”

The man winked and Sam had to stifle a laugh. Gabriel was forward in a way that Sam could only describe as refreshing. Growing up and then working in a small town in the middle of Kansas hadn’t been the best environment for a bi teen and young adult, especially once he had become a business owner. If it wasn’t for Dean doing the actual work on the cars while his wife Cassie wrote for the local newspaper, there were some people in town that Sam was pretty sure wouldn’t have given Winchester’s Garage their business after their dad had died.

He ignored that thought, glad to be in the city with a cute guy wanting to talk to him. It was still Kansas - Sam hadn’t wanted to be too far from home so he could still at least keep the books for Dean - but the city was much more relaxed and accepting. Hell, Queer Eye had just shot a season of episodes in and around town.

Sam’s must have gotten lost in his thoughts again because the next thing he knew, Gabe was backing away, his hands in a defensive position.

“Sorry dude, didn’t mean to offend…”

“What? I- no! I’m sorry,” Sam offered, nearly knocking over his whiskey glass as he reached towards Gabe. “I, uh, was just thinking again. I am new to the area and it’s nice to be in the city instead of rural Kansas, is all.”

Gabe must have understood because he gave Sam a sympathetic smile. “It’s a pretty great city.”

“Can I buy you a drink?” Sam asked.

“No,” Gabriel said with a smirk, “but I’d love to get you one.” Gabriel signaled for the bartender. “What are you drinking?”

Gabriel ended up ordering Sam a scotch much nicer than what he was currently drinking and got a matching glass for himself. “You can add Sammy’s drinks to my tab, Bal” he told the bartender.

“It’s Sam,” Sam replied instinctively, just as the bartender responded, “Balthazar.”

“And you don’t have a tab, Gabriel” Balthazar continued, rolling his eyes and turning away to see to another patron.

Sam looked at Gabe intently, waiting for the man to explain.

“My brother owns the place,” he shrugged. “He needed some capital when he was getting started and I helped him out. He wanted to pay me back but I wouldn’t let him so now he doesn’t let his bartenders charge me for drinks.”

The night passed quickly with Gabe by his side. They skipped over most of the basics, which Sam was grateful for - he wasn’t sure how best to approach that he was a grown adult finishing an undergraduate degree, yet - after finding that they both had an affinity for mythology, flirting their way through their conversation. Gabe favored the Norse pantheon, while Sam had immersed himself in Greek and Roman mythology as a kid and into adulthood.

“If I hadn’t become a lawyer, I would have loved to be a teacher, maybe a literature professor,” Gabriel confided.

“You’re a lawyer? I nearly finished a pre-law degree at Stanford,” Sam shared, “but then dad died and I left to help my brother with the family business…” Sam’s voice trailed off.

“It’s never too late to follow that dream,” Gabe exclaimed but he must have caught the shift in Sam’s mood so he moderated his voice some and asked, “Why don’t we get out of here? I’ll walk you home; you said your place is right in the neighborhood?”

Sam nodded. “Yeah, not too far.” He took a deep breath, clearing the morose thoughts from his mind and smiled at Gabe. He stayed sitting for a moment while Gabe stood. Sam looped a finger through his belt loop and pulled him close. “I hope you’ll stay once we’re there?”

The pair made their way back to Sam’s apartment and climbed the stairs to the third floor. Sam, in his excitement, took the steps two at a time, leaving Gabriel grumbling half a flight below him. Sam laughed as he backtracked, grabbing Gabriel’s hand and tugging him along.

“We don’t all have long legs, Samsquatch!” Gabe giggled, finding himself caught up in Sam’s sudden joy.

Sam stopped short, still two steps above Gabe. “Sorry…”

Gabe winked at the taller man. Switch spots with me and stand facing the wall. I’ve got an idea.

Sam gave Gabe a quizzical look but did as he was asked. Before he knew what was happening, Gabe’s arms were around his neck and the man was jumping onto his back.

“Onward!” Gabriel shouted, his voice bouncing off the walls of the stairwell

Sam laughed again - he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had this much fun and the night was still quite young - and began bounding up the steps to his apartment.

He didn’t let Gabriel down right away when he got to his door. Instead, he stood up as straight as he could and fished his keys out of his pocket, letting them in and closing the door before backing up into it, pinning Gabe there with his body. Sam carefully turned around, still holding Gabriel in the air, and looked him in the eye as he brought their mouths together.

The kiss was good. It was more than good, even. Gabriel’s hands found purchase in Sam’s hair and he tugged a little, causing Sam to groan and giving the smaller man full access to his mouth. Gabe took advantage, taking full control of the kiss. Eventually, they had to pull apart for air. Gabriel tightened his legs around Sam’s waist and panted, “Bedroom.”

Sam nodded, pulling back from the door and turning towards the apartment. He walked to his bedroom, bumping into walls and furniture as Gabriel attached his mouth to his neck, kissing and biting marks into his skin and thoroughly distracting the man.

——

The next morning, Sam woke to the sound of his front door closing. He felt the side of the bed where Gabriel had slept, finding it empty and quickly growing cold. ‘Damn,’ Sam thought. They had really hit it off at the bar and had turned out to be super compatible in bed; he had hoped Gabe might have stuck around.

Sam climbed out of bed and slipped on his boxers before venturing out of his room. As soon as he crossed the threshold of his bedroom, his nose caught the smell of coffee. He quickly made his way toward the kitchen but it was empty. A fresh pot of coffee was there, though, with a note.

_Sam,_  
_As much I want to stick around for the morning after (slow, lazy morning sex is the best and cures any awkwardness pretty quickly), I’ve got an early meeting with my new boss and we seem to have made a mess of my suit last night._  
_Gabe_

Beneath his signature, Gabe had left his phone number.

Sam smiled and poured himself a cup of coffee. He left the note on the counter and meandered to the bathroom to start up the shower and drained his mug as the water warmed. He drank his second cup with his breakfast after getting dressed. His first class wasn’t for another hour but he was ready so he poured the rest of the coffee pot into a travel mug, slung his messenger bag over his shoulder, and headed for school.

Sam checked out the library and campus bookstore, killing some time before class, before he decided enough time had passed. He made his way toward the building that housed his first class, glad that he was early when the walk took longer than expected. He wasn’t the first to arrive in the room, thankfully, and he selected a seat near the back and off to one side.

Sam was pretty well settled in by the time the rest of the class arrived. People greeted friends they hadn’t seen since the semester had ended and didn’t really pay Sam much attention, which suited him just fine. He watched the rest of the class amble in and just as his mind began to wander back to his first day at Stanford, the head of the pre-law department came into the classroom and addressed the group.

“As you all know, this class was supposed to be taught by Professor Payne. Unfortunately, her father has fallen rather ill and Professor Payne has taken personal leave for the semester. While the department wishes Professor Payne and her father the best, we also know that you depend on these core classes being offered and we are fortunate to have an excellent relationship with a number of local law firms and were able to get this course covered on short notice by one of the partners at Shurley and Novak.”

The students clapped politely as a man entered the room. Sam, however, was frozen in his seat.

“Shit,” he muttered. Gabriel was his professor.

Gabe scanned the room, his eyes eventually landing on Sam. For a moment, Sam could see the surprise but Gabriel quickly schooled his features into a neutral expression before turning away.

Gabriel introduced himself to the class, shared a little about his education and background, and then read through the class list, taking attendance. “Samuel Winchester,” he finally called out.

Sam raised his hand, unable to voice even a single syllable.

Gabriel, ever the lawyer, pushed on with the first class, distributing the syllabus and walking the class through his expectations.

Sam, on the other hand, couldn’t concentrate on a thing. He stared down at his laptop keyboard, his hands in place but unable to type a word. Every time he snuck a glance at Gabriel, the man was addressing the whole class but, Sam noticed, he was angled more toward the other half of the room. Sam wasn’t sure if he was glad or disappointed by his observation. Either way, he could feel his cheeks burning as he remembered over and over again the evening he and Gabriel had shared only the night before.

Finally, class ended but before Gabriel dismissed the group, he looked at Sam. “Mr. Winchester, I need a moment of your time.”

As the classroom emptied, Sam slowly put everything back into his bag and stood. He kept his head down as he walked toward the front of the room, simultaneously excited about and dreading this conversation.

Gabriel finished packing up his own bag before he looked up at Sam. “So,” he started, “you’re a student.”

“And you’re my professor,” was all Sam could reply.

Gabriel chuckled at that. “You know, when I said it was never too late to follow your dream, I didn’t think you’d move this quickly,” he said with a small smile as he circled around so that he was standing in front of the teacher’s desk with Sam.

Sam didn’t know what to say anymore and the room fell into an uncomfortable silence. The two men stared at each other for a moment, then two, then a third, and finally Sam couldn’t take it anymore. “Look, we’re both adults, we can just pretend it never happened and go on with our lives, right?”

Gabriel’s eyes flashed up to Sam’s and in that moment, Sam realized that Gabriel hadn’t been looking at him but, more specifically, he’d been staring at his neck. Sam had tried to cover up the marks Gabe had left the night before but there was one that peaked out from the collar of his shirt.

Gabriel’s eyes drifted down to Sam’s mouth and he instinctively licked his lips.

“We could do that,” Gabriel finally responded, his eyes going back and forth between Sam’s neck and lips, “or, we could march into the chair’s office, he’s an old buddy of mine, and I can tell him that last night was the best sex I’ve had in my life and that I’d very much like to continue sleeping with you and see where this thing might go, and get you transferred into another teacher’s section of this class.”

Gabriel had slowly stalked forward as he talked, crowding into Sam’s space until the taller man had needed to sit on the desk and lean back some in order to have the mental capacity to understand what Gabe was saying. “There aren’t any other sections of this class,” Sam croaked.

“Well, then, it sounds like my friend is going to have to be your advisor for an independent study.”

With that, Gabriel twined his fingers in Sam’s hair and pulled his head forward, crashing their mouths together.

When they parted, Sam looked at Gabriel with hooded eyes, nodding. “An independent study sounds like a good idea.”

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. And for anyone wondering, I haven’t abandoned my Debriel fic, EDaR, but I’ve been struggling a lot with it because of some personal stuff. I still intend to finish it and I’ve got a couple of chapters written, even, just not the one that’s supposed to come next since that’s the chapter that’s mentally associated with the issues I had and have been dealing with.


End file.
